Inside this makeshift laboratory, there is a whole row of hospital beds.

And on these hospital beds, a large number of demon-strangling silver shackles are fixed with multiple writhing figures.

Near the hospital bed, healers and alchemists kept walking by, they seemed very busy and nervous, and they didn't react to Wei Lin's arrival.

And Wei Lin didn't bother the others, she stood by the door, her eyes trembling, and her expression a little stiff.

As a lake-level scholar who has participated in many magical experiments and dissected many samples of magical creatures, Wei Lin is quite resistant to those bloody and strange scenes, but now, those restrained and fixed figures on metal hospital beds have made her lose her ability to speak in a short period of time.

If she was not mistaken, these figures should have been members of the volunteer team who had successfully returned from the Great Rift, but right now, there was no way for Verin to associate their status and appearance with the term "human".

A considerable portion of their skin has been mutated.

Unlike some of the magical diseases and symptoms of vicious rituals that Vireen had known of in the past, the skin and flesh of these patients did not show severe ulceration, decay, or other symptoms, nor did they develop inhuman hair, claws, or scales like the Wolf Plague.

A large number of crystals grew under the skin of these survivors.

It's like someone who has used magic crystals for everyday use and used brutal surgery to stitch them directly into their bodies.

She saw that half of one of his heads had been completely crystallized, and a large number of bright yellow magic crystals with a dazzling light had completely replaced half of his head, and for some unknown reason, these shiny crystals had completely exceeded the size of the skull itself, and it looked like a huge crystalline tumor had grown out of his head.

And a similar situation has also appeared in other people.

One of them had even been completely replaced by a flickering magic crystal, through which Vireen could even see through the translucent crystal, while the other had apparently been injured on the way back, losing half of his arm, but the crystals had grown irregularly from his severed arm, as if a cruel artist had attached an irregular hedron sculpture to the wounded man's severed arm.

And although these people with strange symptoms are constantly writhing, they do not make the slightest sound, and their faces are extremely wooden, and there is no superfluous expression at all.

"They're all soldiers of the Ymir Legion, or spellcasters within the Legion and Council."

Even though he had seen it several times with his own eyes, the mage who was following Wei Lin still had a look of pain and unbearable on his face, and he couldn't bear to see the elite of these soldiers and mages endure such pain.

Wei Lin nodded slowly, and then she asked uncertainly, "What are they......?" Still alive? ”

"Yes, they're all alive, at least from our point of view, they're still alive."

However, it was a different voice that answered her.

Vicline turned her head to look, only to see a mountain elf in a white lab robe emerge from another door in the lab.

It was none other than Finn, the butler and chief magical advisor of the Waters royal family.

Given that she was in the laboratory, Wei Lin did not salute Finn, and Finn Butler was also very satisfied with Wei Lin's compliance with the rules of magic experiments, he squeezed out a smile, and then pointed to the room next to him: "Miss Wei Lin come with me, and the rest of us will go about our own business." ”

After saying this, Butler Finn walked towards the door of the room before him without looking back, and Vicion hurried to follow.

Behind the door was a relatively small but equally well-equipped laboratory, and in the center of the laboratory was a two-person cylindrical alchemy container, which was fixed horizontally in the center of the laboratory, and was shrouded in a magical fog that obscured the vision.

"You arrived on time, Miss Verin...... Did the journey go well? ”

Verin took a quick look around, and then she realized that this was not so much a laboratory as an operating room, because on the side, she saw many tools and instruments that were not equipped with ordinary magic labs, and these things were often used to dissect magical creatures, and they were not needed for ordinary magic experiments.

So Verine replied, "All the best, Mr. Finn, but my personal affairs are not so important, and you have come to me in such a hurry, what do you need my help with?" ”

After hearing Villene's question, Finn nodded slightly, and then he asked very directly, "So, how much does Miss Willin know about "Poetry of the Night"? ”

Wei Lin had already been mentally prepared for the questions she might face, so she quickly replied, "It's not too deep, but it should know better than most mages." ”

"Good."

Butler Finn raised his hand, and the magic in the laboratory immediately turbulent, and the fog shrouded in the central magic container immediately dissipated, and the thing that was soaked in some alchemical solution immediately appeared in front of Wei Lin.

At the moment when she saw the face of that thing, even Wei Lin, who was usually able to stay calm and composed, couldn't help but let out a low cry: "Goddess Mel is ...... above"

Compared to the strange human bodies she saw in the room outside, the body in the container in front of her was even more terrifying, the elements such as skin, flesh, internal organs, and bones had completely disappeared from this body, and what Wei Lin saw now was a humanoid crystal.

Because of the unbridled growth of crystals, the edges of the figure's silhouette were uneven, and the places where its arms were in contact with its body were even connected, and for a moment, Wei Lin almost thought that what was soaked in solution was a lifeless humanoid crystalline sculpture.

But then she noticed that the liquid in the alchemy vessel was constantly flowing—it was constantly absorbed by it through a hole in the humanoid crystalline "head", and then spewed out of it, as if it was breathing.

Wei Lin realized something, so she jerked her head up: "This is also ......"

"Yes, he is also a member of the group who has returned from the cracks, but his symptoms are the most severe, and in only half a day after returning to the camp, they have already progressed to this point of no return."

Finn's tone didn't change much when she said these words, but Wei Lin clearly caught a look of helplessness on the elf's face, and then she heard Finn say, "He is my student, and he is also a distant relative of the princess, and he is a valley-level mage within the council, and he is very good. ”

"I'm sorry, Mr. Finn."

Verine gestured to express her grief, then her gaze fell back on the crystalline figure trapped in the container, and after a moment of careful observation, Verine asked, "On the way here, the colleague who brought me here showed me some strange patterns and lines, and he told me that they were all imprinted on the people who returned from the cracks, but I don't see them now. ”

"It's normal because that's the first trace."

"Initially?"

"Yes, when they first returned to the camp, most of them were able to move on their own, but they were in a trance and almost lost their ability to speak, only screaming in pain...... When we examined their bodies, we found these strange lines on their bodies, and the alchemist in the camp initially diagnosed them as 'burns caused by intense magic', but over time, these wounds gradually began to change, and it turned out that they were the 'seeds' of those magic crystals! ”

Listening to these bizarre narratives, Wei Lin only felt a chill down her spine, and she hurriedly asked, "You mean, these crystals are now bred from those 'wounds'?" ”

"That's right, I've checked it myself many times...... So far, I haven't been able to find any records of this similar condition, and major treatments have been tried, but they have not been effective. ”

Finn paused for a moment, then continued, "I even performed alchemy on their bodies and tried to remove all the crystals from individual people directly, but the result was that before these wounds were completely healed, new crystalline traces would appear quickly, and they would grow even faster than before. ”

As she spoke, Finn raised her hand and pointed to another container in the corner, and Wei Lin looked down, only to see that there were a bunch of magic crystals of different colors in the container, and they were very numerous, and despite the isolation of the ritual field, Wei Lin could still see the abnormal activity of these strange crystals through their constantly flickering light.

"They appear to be ores, but they are not exactly ores...... In my personal sense, these things bear a certain resemblance to flesh and blood, they grow, they sense their surroundings, and they are even able to react to damage inflicted by the outside world, so I personally think that they are most likely some kind of lost existence that has long been forgotten, or...... It's the result of some kind of 'sorcery and magic'. ”

Finn smiled at Willin, "Or should I say, Lost Magic?" ”

"I see what you mean, sir."

Wei Lin breathed a sigh of relief, "So, what do you want me to do next?" ”

"Sorcery and the Poems of the Night are your subjects, and since Miss Verin already has some knowledge of the original manuscript of the Poems of the Night, it is up to you to find these traces and verify their specific significance."

As a powerful spellcaster, his magic power immediately wrapped the entire container, and after sensing the injection of magic power, the magic patterns engraved on the surface of the alchemy container began to appear, and then, these foreign magic powers were successfully injected into the container, and with the flowing alchemy liquid into the crystalline humanoid body.

In the next moment, Wei Lin saw that dense strange lines appeared from the crystal, these lines were not static, they were wriggling, crawling, and constantly changing their shape, and when a line or pattern disappeared, a new line was immediately formed.

"It was an unexpected discovery when I applied healing magic to him, and controlling the infusion of mana can cause a similar phenomenon...... Hope it helps. ”

"Time, how much time do I have?"

"I'm sorry, Miss Verin, but you may have less than seven days...... And I must tell you that it is not any country or organization, nor any one person, that limits this time, the waves are so strong that if the boat does not move away before the waves come down, it will have to capsize. ”

Verine's face turned a little pale, she closed her eyes, and took two deep breaths in place.

She really hates countdowns.

What's more, this countdown, she didn't even have anyone around her who could give her some help and advice, which made her feel a little powerless.

Finn sighed as well, and then, as if remembering something, he stepped aside, took out a golden eagle emblem from his coat pocket hanging on the wall, and placed it on the table beside him: "Miss Verin, you are still involved in this matter as a member of the Ernst family, an advisor to the royal family, and a mage of the Council...... This represents the royal family's reward and reward for you. ”

Wei Lin stared at the humanoid crystallization inside the container: "Sir, is there any point in talking about remuneration at such a time?" ”

Finn tugged at the corners of his mouth: "Perhaps, take it, if your research makes real progress, then you can make a not too excessive request to the Wattle royal family, the Ernst family, and the Highland Mage Council, I think they will agree." ”

Wei Lin was silent for two seconds, and then finally nodded: "Please send me some additional manpower, at least five mages above the stream level, and fifteen apprentices...... I need them to do some of the boring work for me, and all my notes from the past, and the records of the cracks and the patients these days, please send them here. ”

"That's good, Miss Verin."

Butler Finn took the coat in his hand, and then he said, "No matter what the next thing is, I think Miss Vilyn has the potential to become a national magical advisor in the future...... So, need a pick-me-up? I think you're a little tired, but I've brought a lot of royal tea bags that might help you relax. ”

"Thank you very much, Mr. Finn...... Please help me add more sugar. ”

(End of chapter)